Out-of-Body
Mind Awake Body Asleep
I had an out of body experience (OBE) last night while falling asleep.
I napped from around 4-6pm, which meant I didn’t crash immediately when I went to bed around 11pm.
I decided to try my eye open technique: as I laid there waiting to fall asleep, if I lost awareness or got distracted from my goal of leaving my body, I would immediately open my eyes to jolt my mind awake.
This technique works really well! The only down side is that it can take a while… I probably laid there for 2-3 hours doing this.
No vibrations, no feeling of release, but gradually it felt like my arms were pointing down (through the bed). I heard someone breathing directly next to me. It took me a second to realize it was my own body! I toggled around and eventually was able to exit.
I floated along the bed side, and out the bedroom door. Once in the hallway, I could move more easily, and took a moment to improve my vision.
I didn’t have a plan, so went over to where my sensor setup was located – except it isn’t currently there because we are moving, and I packed it up. Still, I experienced it there, inaccurately.
My awareness was very messy though, my vision degraded to the point where I was going by feel.
I started to return to the bed, and noticed my expectations were driving part of the experience, like a dream. It wasn’t highly detailed though, and very faint. I suspect this is because I wasn’t in REM.
I returned to body and decided to go to sleep for real.
Some observations:
- This was very useful to see the dream world sneak into the OBE gradually, instead of abruptly. I think when I use the wake-back-to-bed (WBTB) method, I am more inclined to slip into dreaming quickly, because my body is in REM. I have been trying to get out without using WBTB for this very reason.
- This experience is consistent with the common belief that we leave our body every night, and usually just hover directly over our body, and dream.
- This is also consistent with the idea that we can start dreaming at any point while out of body.
- I almost didn’t notice I could leave my body! People might not realize they’re in a state to leave if they don’t know it’s an option in the first place!
I also find it interesting that my techniques over the years have gotten more simple. I used to perform a really long technique and meditation, with different stages. Now I find that’s completely unnecessary.
The only goal is to keep your mind awake while your body falls asleep. That’s it. Sure, a long complicated meditation can achieve that goal, but so can just laying there patiently for 2-3 hours.